The day had remained cloudless up to this point, and a hot sun beat down on us. Although the vegetation on the banks was still just in early bud, it felt very summery.
Owing to brushy banks and the desire to make good time, we decided to have lunch on-the-go. We sidled up the canoes next to each other and held them in place, forming a sort of quad-amaran type of craft that slowly floated downstream on the Nipissing River's current. So locked together, we prepared and had our lunches.
After lunch, we separated and continued down the Nipissing River. Alternating wide stretches with marshes and reeds and narrower bits with stronger current and high, forested banks made for a scenic paddle.
The Nipissing River
We came to a short portage (230-metres) around a small stretch of rapids in the river. The water level and flow was such that they looked rather runnable, even for our mixed-experienced crew. We decided to beach the canoes and scout out the rapids, and, if they looked doable the whole way through, we'd give them a run.
Arn and I poked and bushwhacked our way along the riverbank, noting obstacles and the general grade of the rapids. It all looked fairly straightforward, although not having any canoe-rapid-running skills to speak of, I was not entirely sure of my ability to do it.
Running easy rapids
After reviewing the whole section, we decided to run it, but without our gear. We spent some time ferrying our packs down to the lower portage point, then watched as the more experienced among us (Arn and Dave) ran the first canoe through the rapids. Looked like a piece of cake, except perhaps for the frantic bit of backpaddling one needed to do to avoid overshooting the lower portage point.
Sophie, who upon first seeing the rapids was not at all keen on them, later warmed to the idea. She enthusiastically jumped into a canoe with Arn and Eveline and happily enjoyed the ride down.
courtesy JInnes
Running Easy Rapids
I decided it would be a good experience to try this for myself, and so with Arn in the bow, we set off in our mostly empty canoe. The initial bit of apprehension I had soon melted away; I didn't find it at all difficult to make the few course corrections required to keep us in the sweet spot of the river and away from rocks and other obstacles.
In the end, we nearly all went down through the rapids, with Gosia and Jenn being the only two who opted out.
Another stretch of sanguine river
With the rapids out of the way, we continued down the river, noting a general increase in the current. There was one more portage to make before arriving at Cedar Lake, and this one looked like it was immediately above a substantial rapid and waterfall on the river. When the portage came into view, so did the beginning of the rapids, and we took great care in hugging the shoreline and inching forward to the portage point, wary about getting swept into the top of the rapids.
Arriving Cedar Lake
It was 2:45pm by the time we completed our portage down to the mouth of the Nipissing River at Cedar Lake, and we put the canoes into the water for one last time. We had a roughly four-kilometre paddle back to the dock from this point.
The crossing started placidly enough, but as we emerged onto the main open waters of the lake, in line with its long western arm, a fairly brisk wind was blowing. Out here in the middle of such a large lake, this generated some fairly high waves (fairly high by my canoeing standards, in any case) - perhaps half a metre (1 to 2 feet) high, sometimes capped with a little foamy wave-crest. We were travelling perpendicular to the flow, and the waves were coming in flat against our port side, sometimes creating an un-nerving sideways pitching motion in the canoe. Sophie giggled in enjoyment at the swinging and bobbing of our boat; Jenn and I simply paddled as cleanly and as consistently as we could, hoping to get past this rough section as soon as possible.
As soon as we rounded the point of land near the Brent campsite, we were hidden from the prevailing wind and the choppy waters dropped off to slight ripples. The last few hundred metres to the dock were an easy paddle, and we arrived just shy of 4pm.
Beginning Cedar Lake Crossing
Interactive trackmap with photo points - Cedar-Catfish Lakes Canoe, Day 4 - click map to view
Catfish Lake to Brent dock via Nipissing R and Cedar Lake
Start Time:
8:54a.m.
End Time:
3:54p.m.
Duration:
7h0m
Distance:
19.61 km
(12.19 mi)
Average Speed:
2.8 km/hr
(1.7 mph)
Start Elevation:
1281ft
(390m)
*
Max Elevation:
1346ft
(410m)
*
Min Elevation:
1036ft
(316m)
*
End Elevation:
1042ft
(317m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
181ft
(55m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
422ft
(129m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Mindful of the long drives we had yet to make to get home, we didn't dally too long at Brent. We returned the rental canoes, gathered up our gear, and made a brief visit to the antiquated outfitter shop and store to buy a few sundry items. And a final group portrait to commemorate what had been a fantastic outing.
We made a brief stop at the Brent Crater overlook on the drive back up Brent Road, then continued on to the town of Pembroke, where we stopped for dinner at an East Side Mario's chain restaurant. We tried to find something a bit more upscale, but no luck in small-town Ontario on a holiday Monday.
courtesy JInnes
To cap things off, here's something with sound and motion: a ten-minute video sequence, edited and assembled from the many great sights and experiences of our weekend.
Video Collage of Our Algonquin Canoe Trip - Click on video above to start
So, time for farewells. I'd like to thank Arn for a once-again excellent plan and execution - and for inviting us in the first place. This year's weather and conditions had been pretty much perfect; the coolness had been a more than acceptable trade against the bugs. Oh, and good job, Sophie! Hopefully this very first backcountry trip of yours went well enough that you'll feel inspired to make further trips into the great outdoors.
